Jar-opener.



J. H. SMITH.

JAR OPENER. APPLIOATIOHVFILBD JULY 3, 1909.

' Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

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JAMES HUNGERFORD SMITH, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

JAR- OPENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1909.

Application filed July 3, 1909. Serial No. 505,801.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J AMES HUNeEnrono Siurrn, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Rochester-,in the county of Mon roe and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Jar-Opener, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved opener for jars containing fruit, vegetables and other food stuffs, and arranged for convenient application to pry the closure open, with a view to break the vacuum in the jar and the adhesiveness of the closure to the jar, thus permitting convenient removal of the closure.

For the purpose mentioned, use is made of an opener having two members pivotally connected with each other, one member being arranged for engagement with the jar and the other member being manually c011- trolled, to pass a cutting edge under the jar closure at the seat of the jar and to pry the closure open. I

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure l is a plan view of the improvement as applied, part of the cap of the jar being shown broken out; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a sectional side elevation of the same on the line 33 of Fig. 1; Fig. A is an edge view of one of the members; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a modified form of the improvement.

The jar opener is more especially designed for use on fruit jars sealed by the use of a rubber packing ring under the cover and resting on an annular seat of the jar body. In jars of this kind a vacuum exists inside of the jar, and the cover is held firmly in place by external atmospheric pressure, and in order to open the jar it is necessary to lift the cover and packing ring to allow air to pass into the jar and thus break the vacuum in the jar. By the application of the jar opener presently to be described in detail, the closure can be readily opened without much physical exertion on the part of the operator.

The jar opener consists essentially of two members A and B, pivotally connected with each other at one end at C, the members being of different diameters, so as to permit of' using either of the members at a correspondingly sized jar, to encircle the same near the upper end thereof, as plainly indicated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3. The members A and B are provided at their fulcrum with beveled eccentric prying edges A and B, as plainly indicated in the drawings.

Now in using the device, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 8, the member A is placed around a jar D, with the member B in open position, and then the member B is swung over toward the jar D into a closed position, so that the cutting edge B passes under the packing ring D, interposed between the cap D and the seat D of the jar D, whereby the packing ring is lifted and with it the cap D'-, to break the vacuum in the jar, and also to break the adhesivene'ss of the packing ring D 011 the seat D of the jar.

As previously stated, either of the members A and B may be used on the jar as the stationary or holding member, according to the size of the jar to be opened, the other member then becoming the actuated or manually-controlled prying member for prying the cover open, as previously explained. If desired, the free end of one of the members may be provided with an adjusting screw E, screwing in a tapped lug A forming an integral part of the member A at the free end thereof.

As shown in Fig. 5, the member F is made semicircular while the operating member G is straight and in the form of a lever pivoted at H on the corresponding end of the jar member F. In this case, the free end of the jar member F is provided with an adjusting screw I for fitting the member F onto different sized jars, and the fulcrum end of the operating member G is provided with a beveled eccentric prying edge G, similar to the prying'edges A and B above described.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the jar opener is composed of but few parts, not liable to get out of order, the parts being arranged to permit the convenient application of the device for different sized jars, with a view to pry the cover open, as before explained.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A jar opener, comprising two members, one member being semicircular in shape for engagement with the jar and the other member being pivoted at one end to'one end of the semi-circular member and provided at its fulcrum end with an eccentric prying edge adapted to pass under the closure and pry the same.

2. A jar opener, comprising two members pivotally connected with each other, one

'member being semicircular in shape for engagement with the jar, and the other member being provided at its fulcrum end with an eccentric prying edge adapted to pass under the closure and pry the same open, and an adjusting screw in the free end of the said semicircular member for engagement with the jar to draw the opposite end in close proximity to the jar.

3. A jar opener, comprising two semicircular members of different diameters and pivotally connected with each other, the fulcrum ends of the said members having beveled eccentric prying edges.

4. A jar opener, comprising two semicircular members of different diameters and pivotally connected with each other, the uppermost member having its fulcrum end provided at the top with a bevel to form an eccentric prying edge and the lower memher having its fulcrum end provided at the bottom with a bevel forming an eccentric prying edge.

5. A jar opener, comprising two members pivotally connected with each other at one end, one member being arranged for engagement with the jar and having an adjusting screw at its free end and the other member being manually controlled and provided at its fulcrum end with an eccentric prying edge adapted to pass under the closure and pry the same open.

6. A jar opener comprising two members pivotallyl connected with each other, one member eing shaped for engagement with a jar and having an adjusting screw, the other member being provided at its fulcrum end with a beveled eccentric prying edge adapted to pass under the closure an pry the same open.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specificatlon 1n the presence of two subscrlbing witnesses.

JAMES HUNGERFORD SMITH.

Witnesses:

' E. B. HARVARD,

EMIL LUDEKENS. 

